UK MMA Weekend Roundup: Big Wins, Big Finishes & Rising Stars

This weekend, some of the best pro fighters on the UK and Irish MMA scene stepped into the cage across multiple organisations. We look at those who shone on a weekend full of potential stars.

Firstly, over on the Emerald Isle, Cage Warriors 210 took place in Dublin. The RDS Arena is home to some historic moments for Irish MMA, and some of the country’s best future stars stepped up under the lights this weekend.

Unfortunately, it was not all positives, as Brazilian Gustavo Sousa caused an upset against champion Paddy McCorry in the main event. However, there were highs lower down the card.

Maximus Lally moved to 7-0 with another first-round finish, adding to his impressive MMA win streak. Lally is now 4-0 in Cage Warriors with three first-round finishes, and the featherweight is now on the cusp of a title shot.

The 145lbs title has a history with the Irish tricolour, as MMA superstars Conor McGregor and Paul Hughes both held the belt during their illustrious careers.

Fellow featherweight Keith Keogh also delivered a finish on the night, keeping his own unbeaten résumé intact, this time in a catchweight bout. ‘The Freak Show’ sets a blistering pace and is a ferocious finisher across the whole fight, getting stoppages in the first, second and third rounds across his first five professional bouts.

Unfortunately, Lewis Byrne was unable to make it a hat-trick of Irish featherweight wins as he tasted defeat for the very first time against promising English talent Oliver Tero, who himself bounced back after his first professional MMA loss earlier this year.

Cage Warriors have put prospects against each other on many occasions. Most notable recently was a lightweight match-up between George Staines and Conor McCarthy back in June, where the Englishman got the submission and earned himself a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series.

For McCarthy, this weekend was the bounce back, and he did so in style against experienced Italian Dumitru Girlean, finishing the fight in the second round to move to 7-1. The powerful lightweight will be keeping an eye on the 155lbs title fight later this year.

FCC 47 was set up for fireworks, stacking some exceptional UK talent throughout the card, and it massively delivered.

Headlining the card in Bolton, bantamweight champion Marlon Jones took on Armand Herczeg for his first defence. The bad blood boiled in this affair, and it was the Irish-Hungarian who upset the odds with a vicious second-round TKO victory to become bantamweight champion.

In the co-main event, seasoned pro Shoaib Yousaf extended his win streak to five, getting a violent TKO stoppage against Azerbaijani featherweight Tariel Abbasov in the first round.

His last three victories have all come via first-round TKOs, with 10 of his career wins coming from finishes. Now at 14-3, Yousaf could well be stepping onto the main stage of MMA very soon.

At welterweight, top prospect Roan Crocker faced off against Scottish contender Jordan Rutherford. Crocker has a vast amateur record, which built his hype prior to his professional tenure in MMA.

His elite grappling proved to be the difference as he secured a buzzer-beater triangle submission victory with just a second remaining in the third round at FCC 47. In an excellent back-and-forth fight, it was the Welshman who emerged victorious, maintaining his undefeated record and moving to 3-0.

Across Cage Warriors 210 and FCC 47, established names delivered while several unbeaten prospects continued their rise.

From Lally and Keogh in Dublin to Crocker’s dramatic last-second submission in Bolton, the weekend once again highlighted the depth of talent developing across the UK and Irish MMA scene.